THE WEEK AHEAD

JOHANNESBURG : Call It 'Inkatha-Gate'

South African President Frederik W. de Klerk will be on the hot seat today when he makes a statement on a political scandal threatening to undermine crucial all-party talks on the troubled country's future and possibly to unseat De Klerk himself.

The government now admits that it secretly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Zulu-based conservative black union and the allied Inkatha Freedom Party--a rival of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

De Klerk could face demands that he resign if it turns out he approved of the payments while claiming to promote evenhanded negotiations.